Hogwarts, i am Dementor

Chapter 468 - 467: We Must Stop Voldemort from Taking a Bath at the Ministry of Magic (Probably)

"So you want to go to the Department of Mysteries to stop Voldemort from taking a bath there." Cohen stroked his smooth chin. "Seems reasonable. It's definitely not the place for that sort of thing. Did you see... him... without his robes? Is he...?"

"How could I see that?!" Harry said, clutching his head. "I just saw him without his robes… And I wasn't saying I was going to stop him from bathing at the Department of Mysteries—he wasn't bathing there at all—"

"What in Merlin's name are you two talking about?" Hermione said, her eyes closed in frustration. "Why—I mean, Harry, this dream just sounds like a normal nightmare. Why would the Dark Lord…?"

"Everyone needs to bathe, or they'll get itchy," Cohen said, dead serious. "Dumbledore needs to, and so does Voldemort. So, ambushing him while he's bathing is a brilliant idea."

"But he wouldn't let Harry see that, would he?" Hermione countered. "He and Harry are sworn enemies. Who exposes their most vulnerable side to their mortal enemy?"

"That's exactly why I think Voldemort doesn't actually know about this connection," Harry said slowly. "Whenever he gets excited, my scar starts to hurt, and I start seeing what he sees…"

"What kind of shampoo does he use?" Cohen asked suddenly.

"…" Harry stared at him blankly.

"Fine, fine, I'll ask him face-to-face later," Cohen said, shrugging.

He was mainly curious why some Death Eaters preferred the smell of his robes over Voldemort's. Maybe Voldemort just used too much cologne.

"He's always wanted that one thing in the Department of Mysteries… Today might be the day he finally gets his hands on it—he's even thinking about it while bathing," Harry speculated.

"Honestly, mate, the moment you bring up the Dark Lord and bathing in the same sentence, I'm a lot less scared," Ron said.

"Then tell Professor McGonagall and have her tell Dumbledore," Hermione insisted. "Harry, you're not planning on going by yourselves, are you? Like you did in first year to find the Philosopher's Stone?"

"Didn't you do the same thing in first year?" Cohen asked curiously.

"Which is exactly why I think we were being very unwise back then," Hermione said sternly. "In truth, Professor Dumbledore had the Stone very well protected; the Dark Lord couldn't have taken it from the Mirror."

"But Professor McGonagall would have to wait for Dumbledore to come back, right?" Harry said urgently. "What if he gets it today…?"

"You just said 'what if'," Hermione said.

"'What if' means it's very likely to happen. Ever heard of Murphy's Law?" Cohen said. "The more you worry about something, the more likely it is to happen—"

"Cohen, it's no use getting everyone worked up. You have to understand something: your father is running for office. You can't sneak into the Ministry like this; it would give everyone a reason to attack him," Hermione said patiently.

"That might not be an issue anymore," Cohen said, raising an eyebrow. He pulled out a folded piece of paper from his pocket. He unfolded it to show a very short note from Edward.

[Won the election]

"Huh?" Ron looked stunned.

"What—" Harry was also frozen. "Why didn't you tell us sooner?"

"I figured there would be an article in the paper tomorrow, so I wanted to save it as a surprise," Cohen said. "So… if Harry wants to go, we can actually be 'legal'—it won't matter if we get caught."

"I am completely against this plan," Hermione said firmly.

But she couldn't stop them for long.

That evening, Harry's head started hurting again.

The vision of Voldemort bathing was a decoy, meant to make Harry believe he was getting a glimpse of the Dark Lord's plan. In reality, Voldemort wanted Harry to see something else entirely.

"He's got Sirius!" Harry woke up with a start after collapsing in the corridor, his face pale. "Voldemort—I know why he was so excited, even while bathing—he's close to getting what he wants, and he wants Sirius to help him get that thing…"

"Then let's go, shall we?" Cohen said, rubbing his hands together.

"But…" Even Ron was starting to panic a little this time.

"What?" Harry looked at him.

"How did the Dark Lord even get into the Department of Mysteries?" Hermione said. "It's not after hours yet—and…"

"It's the day of the Minister's election. Everyone's taking the day off," Cohen said. "Nobody cares if they leave early."

"Exactly!" Harry said, clenching his fists at Cohen's words. "Hedwig couldn't find Sirius, and his letter never came back—the last time he wrote he said he was on a mission, so maybe that's when Voldemort caught him… Voldemort wants to use him to get that weapon."

"But… why don't we have Cohen go tell Mr. Norton?" Hermione said. "Mr. Norton could organize the Aurors to save him?"

"Hermione, don't you get it? If we want to save Sirius, we have to trade what he wants most," Harry said urgently. "If he just wanted to kill Sirius, one spell would be enough. The Aurors wouldn't have time—"

Harry thought of the Killing Curse Voldemort had used on Cohen. It was so fast, instantaneous. Cohen had survived only because he wasn't human, but Sirius was different. Sirius was just a fragile, normal person…

"We can't let you go and get yourself killed!" Hermione pleaded. "Harry, please, don't—"

"I can't just let Sirius die in front of me!" Harry said furiously. "He's the only family I have left! If you—"

"Then we'll go," Cohen said. "We'll bring my trunk. If things get really bad, we'll just let Norberta out to cause a distraction and use that to rescue him."

"At the very least, let Cohen send a letter to Mr. Norton…" Hermione said. "And how are we even going to get there? We don't even know where the Ministry entrance is…"

"I do," Ron said, swallowing hard. "My dad took me there once, through the visitors' entrance…"

"We can fly on the Chimera. I'd rather not have it fight Voldemort, but it'll do for transport," Cohen said. "But I do need to send a letter to Edward first, to get him to bring some people as backup…"

With Harry so anxious and Cohen so willing to help, Hermione and Ron quickly joined the plan. At least they would have backup—once Cohen's letter reached Edward, a whole group of Aurors would come rushing to help.